Xiaomi Redmi 6 & Redmi 6A launched in China

As expected, Xiaomi has refreshed its entry-level smartphone line on 12 June. Two new phones were announced, the Redmi 6 and the Redmi 6A, both of which retail for under Rs 10,000 in China.

Redmi 6

The Redmi 6 features a 5.45-inch HD+ display in an 18:9 aspect ratio. Interestingly, Xiaomi has ditched Qualcomm and has instead decided to go with a MediaTek Helio P22 chip, which features an octa-core 2 GHz CPU. Storage options include a 3 GB + 32 GB and a 4 GB + 64 GB option, and you can use a microSD card (up to 256 GB in size).

Cameras include a 12 MP + 5 MP dual camera on the rear and a 5 MP unit on the front.

A fingerprint scanner is on the rear, though an “AI-aided face unlock” feature is supported via the front camera as well. According to Xiaomi, the screen lights up when you pick up the phone, which apparently helps improve the speed of the unlock process.

The phone is running MIUI 10 and includes a 3,000 mAh battery. This is smaller than the 3,300 mAh battery on the Redmi 5, but hopefully, that won’t matter.

The cheaper Redmi 6A is virtually identical to the Redmi 6 from the outside, and in fact, features the same display. The camera and the internals are where we see downgrades.

Instead of a Helio P22, we now see a Helio A22, which includes a quad-core CPU. This is paired with a mere 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, with an option to expand the storage via a microSD card. On paper, the Helio A22 should be considerably faster than the Snapdragon 425 (with 1.4 GHz quad-core CPU) on the Redmi 5A

The camera goes from a dual camera to a 13 MP single camera on the rear. The front remains a 5 MP unit.

Xiaomi has also ditched fingerprint unlock on this unit, offering only the AI-aided face unlock feature as a biometric login option. The battery is also a 3,000 mAh unit.

This phone retails for CNY 599 (around Rs 6,000).

Both phones support 4G on both SIMs and will go on sale on 15 June in China. There is no word yet on an India launch date.